The Justice Department announced yet another version of its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs. As everyone knows, the Justice Department’s guidance carries talismanic significance — it is an important document that...more
10/4/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Management Systems ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enterprise Risks ,
Innovative Technology ,
Machine Learning ,
Risk Management ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department has repeated on several occasions that it intends to aggressively prosecute corporations for sanctions and export controls violations. The “New FCPA” is how the Justice Department characterizes its...more
How can companies build trust and drive growth in a region as politically and economically volatile as Latin America? In this episode, Nicolas Garcia - Vice President, Legal, Regional and Compliance Manager for LATAM and...more
Compliance lessons are life lessons. Compliance professionals are, by their nature, optimistic people. They see challenges as new opportunities to strive closer to an ideal. Compliance professionals live in the shadow of...more
While FCPA enforcement against companies has been relatively quiet this year, despite a strong beginning to the year — the SAP case for $220 million; and the Gunvor case for $661 million — DOJ has been pushing a number of...more
Listen to this conversation between Michael Volkov and Halyna Senyk in which they focus on Ukraine's anti-corruption efforts amidst the backdrop of its ongoing war with Russia. Halyna Senyk, an expert from the CEELI...more
Bryn Sedlacek, Vice President, Product Manager at Aravo, joins us on the podcast to discuss third-party risk management with a focus on holistic risks and unified visibility. In a wide-ranging discussion, Mike Volkov and Bryn...more
In this new era of aggressive sanctions enforcement, companies have to understand the red lines that define where criminal and civil enforcement risk increase. In contrast to the history of FCPA enforcement, DOJ and OFAC...more
It may seem like a Herculean task — but it can be done. I regularly opine that mitigating sanctions risks for your third-party population is an easier task than doing so for your anti-corruption risks. One big reason —...more
While OFAC’s enforcement actions and guidance points to important steps exporters must take when relying on third-party distributors and other intermediaries, the “reason to know” and affirmative obligations to monitor resale...more
5/23/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
Sanction Violations ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain ,
Third-Party Risk ,
Trade Agreements
Companies rely on robust distribution chains as an efficient mechanism to enter new markets without requiring a significant investment. Additionally, companies may maintain parallel sales activities in markets between their...more
The increase in internal reporting comes at a critical time when government-sponsored whistleblower programs are maturing and expanding into new agencies. The SEC’s program continues to increase and received a record number...more
As DOJ, OFAC and BIS ramp up sanctions and export controls enforcement, they have continued to provide important compliance guidance. You have to give the enforcement agencies credit — on the one hand, they regularly warn of...more
4/18/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
White Collar Crimes
The Securities and Exchange Commission has gained well-publicized traction through its formal whistleblower bounty program. Only a small portion of these whistleblower reports involve FCPA, anti-bribery allegations. ...more
LRN’s latest report was based on a survey of more than 1,400 ethics and compliance professionals, most of whom were employed at organizations with at least 1000 employees in 19 different countries and 26 industries across...more
The Department of Justice’s blockbuster FCPA settlement with Gunvor restores the credibility of DOJ’s pronouncements of DOJ’s commitment to aggressive FCPA enforcement. While I have questioned DOJ’s commitment to its...more
3/21/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
When it comes to FCPA enforcement, the Justice Department’s global focus for many years was on Asian countries, and in particular, China. This trend, however, has continued, but in the past few years, DOJ has brought a...more
If companies operated with perfect governance mechanisms and controls, they would all be ready for the coming sanctions enforcement storm. However, that is not the corporate reality. Even after several companies are the...more
2/16/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Policy ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Supply Chain ,
White Collar Crimes
There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.
Willa Cather I know I sound like a broken record. The Justice Department’s white collar criminal enforcement has been trending down over the last few...more
2/14/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Liability ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
White Collar Crimes
A Top 5 list should be viewed with suspicion — it is often just a headline grabbing posting with the clear purpose to gain readers’ attention. In defense, however, it is interesting to compare articles on risk rankings....more
1/30/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Board of Directors ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Risk Management
I always enjoy retrospective “year in review” postings to start off the new year. For years, I have sought to identify and capture important compliance trends, typically focused on specific professionals in the compliance...more
When it comes to FCPA enforcement and expectations, DOJ has moved the goalposts. Some would argue that DOJ has been consistent all along. The truth, like most issues, lies somewhere between the extremes....more
1/17/2024
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
SAP America Inc. ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement record for 2024 was slow. This trend was unexpected, contrary to my own predictions and of various other prognosticators. It is hard to explain why this slowdown occurred....more
1/12/2024
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Federal Sentencing Guidelines ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Petrobras ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
While 2023 was a relatively slow year in FCPA enforcement, the DOJ and SEC settlements announced throughout the year set out a list of important ethics and compliance reminders. While these may seem obvious to everyone, I...more
1/11/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department has brought three corporate FCPA enforcement actions in 2023 (if you include the Ericsson DPA breach settlement). With its recent announcement of a declination under the Corporate Enforcement Policy,...more